Canines and Angels
by Bitway
Summary: He needs help to save his brother's life. He wants something interesting to do with his. A demon and an angel cross paths during these moments in their lives. {AU fantasy setting that primarily involves angels and demons}
1. Chapter 1

The day had been like any other for Shirou. This wolf demon had been playing around with his twin brother, Atsuya, in a small clearing of a forest. Rolling around with him, occasionally putting up a playful and mocking fight, taking a nap in the sun, and even biting on a spare bone or two, which was then fought over.

"Hey, I was the one who found this one, so that makes it mine!" His brother shouted as he tried to yank the bone away from him.

"You said I could have it!" Shirou stated as he tightened his grip on it. He wasn't going to let it go so easily and he could tell his brother wasn't really angry with him, he just wanted to have some fun.

"Oh yeah? Well I'm taking it back then!"

Atsuya let go of the bone, causing his brother to stumble and fall flat on his back. With the sudden force, he had let go of the bone, causing the pink haired demon to quickly snatch it from him before he could even think about getting up.

"No fair, you should have said you were going to do something like that," Shirou said as he sat up, rubbing his back as he did.

"But then you would have seen it coming. And I told you I was going to get it back. Don't worry, you can have it once I'm done with it."

Of course, his brother was tempting Shirou, holding it out towards him and shaking it before him. The silver haired wolf now seemed to be focusing on the bone. He began to look as if he were going to pounce, his fluffy wolf ears pointing forward and his light gray tail looked nearly motionless. And as soon as Shirou saw his brother smirk, he leapt towards him, trying to get the bone back from him.

This ended up in the two clawing at each other, not to harshly as they were fooling around, but just enough to get the other to try and drop it when caught. While the two seemed like they were truly having fun, Shirou suddenly came to a halt, which caused Atsuya to take the bone in pride.

"Its mine now! Haha!"

Shirou was silent, rather than fighting back again, he sniffed at the air. Something was on its way towards them, or nearby. No, it was the former. But he couldn't identify what it was he was excellent at sniffing other beings out, more so than his brother.

"I…think we should go," Shirou said quietly as he stood up and dusted the dirt off of him.

"What? Why? You scared of something?" Atsuya questioned as he walked up to his brother, poking him harshly in the chest with the bone. "You know whatever comes to bother us, I can get rid of it. Its no big deal. Let whatever you smell come this way so I can kick its ass!"

Atsuya really had no fear or caution thrown into him, not like his brother. He wouldn't mind staying if he could identify the scent, but this being unknown to him…it frightened him. It was too unsettling.

"Please, Atsuya…I know you're strong, but maybe we should go to the river? The fish there are really good."

Shirou wanted to reason with him, but seeing the look in Atsuya's eye, he knew it would be impossible. Now he had his heart set on this creature.

"We'll go later. But first…" Atsuya smirked as he tossed the bone in between his hands, seeming to juggle it before chucking it in between a few trees that were surrounding them. He waited to hear a response, his ears twitching at the slightest of sound. But as nothing came, he just gave a shrug.

"Did I scare them off?"

"I guess so…" Shirou paused to take in the scent of the area. "I don't smell it anymore…"

"Told you there was nothing to be afraid of. Now we lost our bone. Unless if you want to be the one to go and get it?"

Shirou sighed upon that comment. One way or another he would be 'persuaded' to go and fetch it anyway. Instead of verbally answering, the silver wolf just began to run in the general direction of the bone. He'd be able to sniff it out in no time, although he really wished his brother hadn't tossed it out so far. As he went deeper into the forest, that odd scent began to rise once more. This time, it wasn't coming from out here, but it was nearing the small open field, nearing his brother.

Even though he was so close to retrieving the bone, his instincts told him to run back, go back to Atsuya.

"So you _did_ stick around, huh?"

He could hear his brother's voice already, whatever he had had smelled was already there.

"What? Not going to talk? Fine! No last words from you!"

Shirou was expecting to hear the howl of victory within a few seconds, his brother was strong, there was nothing he couldn't beat. But that victory cry never came. Instead, cries of pain were heard, and it sounded like it came from his brother rather than the enemy.

"Atsuya!" Shirou cried out his brother's name as he sped up. Although as he returned to where he had originally been, he nearly began to wish he hadn't.

Before him were four bears, bear demons more like it, one noticeably larger than the others. He had to be the leader as he was gripping a wounded and bloody Atsuya by the neck in his claws. This one had turned his head as he heard the other wolf approach. The bear smirked as he eyed Shirou and something about the way he was looking at the wolf had sent chills down Shirou's spine.

"You know what to do. Get him," The bear ordered before seeming to speak to the wolf. "He needs to be with his twin brother, isn't that right, little wolfie?" The large bear shook Atsuya in his grip, though the wolf demon was trying to claw at him. He wasn't going to give up being in his grasp, not without a fight.

"Shirou…run…" He warned his brother in a weak voice.

Even though Shirou could pick up on his voice from this distance, the wolf seemed to terrified to move. The sight of four bears had frightened him enough and with three approaching him that had caused his tail to bend in, hiding between his legs, his ears flattened as he was unintentionally making himself look smaller and much more weak. He would be an easy target for the bears to take. They'd have two wolves within their furry paws for whatever reason they had come to get them. Shirou couldn't find a reason in this frightened state.

"RUN!" Atsuya shouted before the bear holding him forced him to the ground to shut him up.

Hearing his voice like that seemed to snap Shirou out of his fearful daze. Within a second, he had turned and ran. He could easily outrun three bears, right? But they had to be strong, stronger than either of the wolves if they overpowered Atsuya. No bear, demon or not, had ever defeated his brother before. He began to fear for the worse that would happen to either one of them, causing his speed to increase.

While trying to escape, he couldn't tell how far the bears were from him. He really couldn't tell where anything was with escape and fear on his mind. As long as was away, as long as he could get help, things would be alright.

Eventually, Shirou came to a sudden halt as he found his feet beginning to touch some cold and wet- water. Was he at the river already? A different part of it, but he was. He turned his head back, panting as he was taking this moment to catch his breath and listened for any sign of trampling feet. He was still and silent, the only part of him that moved were his ears, and then his nose as he took in the smells of the area.

There was nothing. Birds chirping and the smell of water were the only things around him now. Nothing bear like around. Still, this wolf wasn't going to take any chances to wait and be ambushed. Shirou took in a few more breaths, calming himself before dashing off, following the river downstream. He knew there was a bridge around the lower area, he could use that to cross and keep the distance between him and the bears.

 _I'm sorry, Atsuya…you know I can't fight them, I'm sorry…I'll find a way to save you. I promise!_

* * *

Up in a small heaven, a group of angels flocked together. As usual, they were curiously looking down upon the land assigned for their heavenly and divine protection. One angel, a newcomer to this area, one who was blonde and absolutely gorgeous, had been sitting out and away from the group.

Aphrodi sighed as he watched the group dote on some humans, give a comment or two about demons, and prayed for those that were about to pass on in their life, no matter what species they may be. They were just like every other group of angels he'd seen in his life. Although he could easily play that role to, give sweet little comments on those kinder, more religious humans and hoping for the best for others. As for the demons…he was taught not to praise them so much.

"Hey, Aphrodi!" One of the angels had called out his name, stepping away from the group to approach him. "What's the matter? Don't you want to see your new location?"

"No, thank you. I think I'll go and see it when the others are not around and I have more space to myself," Aphrodi said politely. "I thank you for trying to include me though, Matsuno."

"You can just call me, Max. Its what everyone else does," Max replied. "You sure you don't want to come on over? I know you haven't been in this heaven for long, but you should at least get closer to the rest of us."

"I know. I intend to, just not at the moment. You haven't had to move around before, have you? Its stressful and I just need time to adjust."

"Well, you know where we'll be, so you can come to any one of us later." With that, Max gave a wave to the blonde before leaving him on his own to go join his friends once more.

The blonde angel waved back, having a smile on his face before letting it fade as he turned away from the group. From what he could gather, they were all nice, experienced, friendly angels. Just what was expected of them to be. And now he was here amongst them, to be just like them.

Aphrodi was truly experienced in being an angel, he had been for hundreds of years, but with this change in heavens, he felt out of place. He disliked being around new angels, ones that he assumed would stand by their beliefs and old practices. They would be utterly boring to be around with. No one would relish in doing anything fun, things he had come to enjoy back at his original heaven.

While being stuck in this one, he would play his assigned role. Be a good angel, help out whoever needed some angelic intervention. Though he could already list off a good number of common things humans prayed for, they were all the same, no matter who they were.

The angel was rather glad no one had been curious about his past. Perhaps they didn't want to be involved? To know how he was? Well, that was a perk for him, he didn't want to go on telling his life story to them and he wouldn't.

Eventually he grew bored remaining in this spot and decided to take a walk amongst the clouds. While this may be a different heaven, the scenery was so familiar, relaxing even to him. Seeing nothing but fluffy white clouds, being able to part them at any time to see a wondrous view of the land below, it was enjoyable and Aphrodi loved the sight from above. There was something grand about being so high above other beings that he found fascinating.

As the angel walked on, he began to hum to himself, occasionally opening up a patch of clouds and looking down to see a new sight every time. Although it seemed this area was largely covered by greenery, there were many, many trees below him. Guess this place was filled with more nature than the last.

"Enjoying the sight?" A voice asked, causing Aphrodi to stop in his tracks as he looked up to the source. A sigh escaped him as he could tell who it was already.

"Yes, Apollon, I am. Nothing wrong with that, is there?" He asked sweetly as he turned to his old friend. "Let me guess, here to check up on me? Did _he_ send you?"

"Sort of. You know how it is back home," Apollon said as he stepped towards the blonde. "And yes, your father did order me to see if you were alright. He secretly misses you. We all know it."

Aphrodi mentally sighed, not wanting to lose his composure over speaking about his father. It was all _his_ fault for removing him from his original home.

"Great. Well, you can tell him I'm doing absolutely wonderful. I'm becoming a true angel like he wishes," Aphrodi replied with a calm voice, though a mocking tone hidden underneath it. He meant no harm to his friend, but he was sure that he would understand it was more towards the annoyance of his father. "Anyway, if that's all you were assigned to do, I'm sorry, but I need to go back to my angel duties. I'm sure thats what _he_ would want."

"You know I did come here to see you to. You're my friend, Aphrodi and I know this place is killing you on the inside," Apollon said as he crossed his arms. "Anyway, some of us will be coming to check up on you every now and then. And, thats not what your father wants; its what we want."

Aphrodi paused for a moment, looking to Apollon and studying his face. He tried to pick out some lie in his words, but couldn't. He was a truthful and bright angel, that had always been his thing. The blonde eased up, giving the other a gentle smile.

"I do hope to see the others soon…Tell them I miss them. But you know, I was serious about having work to do."

As much as he would prefer to do something else, he couldn't here. Right now he had to go and be an angel, go and find someone who was praying and hear their offer.

"I know you enjoy it though, at least when you get the fun ones." Apollon stepped forward, patting Aphrodi on the back, it was his way of letting others know he was going to take his leave. "And I do hope you get an interesting one."

Apollon gave his friend a warm smile before taking a few steps forward, away from his friend, he could now let his wings burst out from his back. They were so large, soft, powerful, enough to carry him across the different heavens. Aphrodi watched the other angel begin to take off and fly back to their- his home. He waited until Apollon was completely out of sight before beginning his way back to the group that had been watching over people earlier. By now it should be his time to watch over the people below them, find someone to help, on his own without the eyes of other angel's on him. He really did hope that he would find an interesting one this time.

* * *

A/N: So, its been a long while since I've actually written anything that isn't a oneshot and I'm hoping this is something I will continue and finish. I don't know if characters will seem OOC since this is an AU but I'll do my best anyway.

Also the changing POV is a consistent thing because I just found it works out well and its fun switching between the two main characters. I think thats all I have to really say right now and if anything else comes to mine I'll slap it on the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Shirou had made it far enough, he decided for himself, that the bears would not be following him up to this point. He had ran down the river, crossed the bridge, and nearly ran straight into the human village that was located on this side of the forest. It would be dangerous for him to continue further into the area and he wasn't willing to risk being chased again. Humans were just as nasty as bears, especially those within this village.

For the moment, he was lying down, taking a moment to catch his breath and rest. He couldn't keep running forever, even demons had a limit. The wolf was breathing heavily for a while, nearly ready to nap to regain energy, but decided against it. If he fell asleep, that would mean his brother would remain in danger. He had to go back, help him, save him.

But not alone.

Just thinking of those bears caused the wolf to shiver and hold himself, even curl up into a ball. He had to find someone, a partner, but who? There were no other wolves in the area and he couldn't turn to the humans. So who then?

Shirou tried to think of someone, an ally the two wolves had known and would be willing to help. There had to be someone, anyone! Yet, no name or other friendly demons were coming to mind. With a whine, the wolf had let out a deep sigh. This was beginning to seem hopeless.

His ears straightened up, his body following as he went on alert from hearing someone moving through the forest. He sniffed the air and calmed himself as those walking by were just humans. No, he couldn't let himself start to panic over them, but now he did have to force his body up and move out of sight.

The demon remained hidden, hiding amongst the trees and bushes, he was truly grateful that humans lacked the ability to smell other beings like he could. Though, he was curious as to why humans would be out here. If he was right, there was nothing outside of the village, so why where they out here?

Patiently, Shirou waited for the human scent to disappear before poking his head out of the bushes. After looking around, he jumped out and began to look around. He followed their scent from where they had been just a few moments ago.

Upon making his way through the trees and shrubbery, he found himself in front of a small religious shrine. It was a place meant for travelers, a substitute of a village's church, if they couldn't access it. The demon was sure there was more to it, but since he had never entered the village or asked a human the reasons behind it, thats all he knew.

Shirou stared at the shrine for a moment before an idea struck him. That was it! The answer was literally right in front of him! He could ask for help, pray to the heavens! An angel would surely be able to assist him if he did that!

Although he did think against it for a moment. When had a demon ever called for an angel's assistance? Angels usually had the upper hand against demons, they were naturally stronger and their holy powers could easily harm a demon, even their weakest of attacks could leave a demon severely injured if they weren't careful. Which meant one would the perfect ally to help save his brother, but…there was no guarantee one would be willing to help him. He wasn't human. He could hide his wolf features, making his appearance seem human, but that was the closest he'd ever get to being one. He doubted that an angel would fall for a trick like that. They could probably sense his demonic presence or something. And then there was that rumor he had heard of angels killing demons for sport.

The wolf paced back and forth in front of the shrine. His thoughts were more concerned on just summoning an angel. That was step one…if he could do that, his next problem would depend on the angel; would they help him or want to kill him? Well…it wouldn't hurt to just try this out, would it?

"Atsuya would probably kill me for this…" Shirou mumbled as he looked at the shrine. It was now or never and time was ticking for him…

With a determined look, the wolf walked up to the shrine, heading towards the main altar with little figurines placed upon them. They were a cute decoration to this, but he didn't know what they stood for. The wolf got down to his knees, before clapping his hands together. This was how one prayed, right? Humans did it this way, didn't they? Oh, how he hoped this would work. Besides, angels would have to hear his prayers while here…right?

"Please, please…" Shirou began, "My name is Shirou Fubuki, I'm a wolf demon and I need some help. I…I'm not a bad demon and my intention for this prayer is good. I wish to save my brother and I really, really need some help, please…"

The wolf continued his prayer, or what he assumed was one, it sounded more like desperate begging than anything. He was asking for any kind of help and continuing about religious things. With his lack of knowledge on human praying, he was a little doubtful in this working. He continued for a long while, repeating his words over and over, finding new ways to phrase his pleas.

Eventually he came to a stop; Shirou sighed to himself. _How silly_ , he thought to himself, _why would an angel help a demon?_

The wolf got up from the small alter, walking down and away from the shrine. He looked back to it, nearly thinking he should try again. As it seemed like nothing was happening, what was supposed to happen anyway? An angel was supposed to descend from the sky and speak with him. But that didn't seem like it was happening. So, he just turned his back to the shrine, beginning to walk forward until he saw his shadow grow and a bright light shine from behind. This caused him to stop in his tracks and turn around in with hopeful eyes.

Had a demon's prayers actually work?

* * *

Aphrodi sighed upon taking his shift, looking out for prayers to be answered. He really wasn't looking forward to answering any. Besides, there was no harm if he didn't. Others would be able to take up their prayers, others who were more interested in such small minded wishes.

The angel shifted back between views of the churches within the villages and the various shrines out in the forests. Boring. All of them, boring. All they wanted were some peaceful blessings or wished for a prosperous day or some other silly wish he forgot once they had left. Nothing worth speaking to them for, but sending a little sign that they were heard was something he could do. Although he found this absolutely dreadful, to other angels walking by, he looked completely enthralled into his work. It was so easy to fake such things, he was a master of it.

As he shifted back and forth, there was something, someone that had caught his eye. At first, he assumed this was another human until taking a look at the tail and ears protruding from the one in front of this shrine. No, this couldn't be a human, but a demon? An animal one? A wolf?

Aphrodi glanced around his area, making sure he was in the clear to overhear a demon's prayers. He was certain if anyone walked by, they would tell him to look elsewhere. It was pretty funny, he never thought a demon could pray or even knew how to pray. He listened intently, for once, he was curious, _intrigued._ The angel even surprised himself at how much he was paying attention to this one wolf demon.

Apparently his brother was taken, kidnapped? In danger, thats for sure. It was a mix of begging and saying how he was a good demon. A very odd way of praying, but Aphrodi didn't seem to mind it. The angel was surprised to see how long this demon was praying for. Although, he went on for a while, eventually he had come to a stop. _Giving up already?_ Poor little demon, he seemed so intent on this to.

If he were anything like the others here, he wouldn't answer them. Well, maybe one would listen, he didn't know these angels all to well. But, he wasn't like them, not in the slightest. And he had no intention of staying up here continuing this annoying job.

A smile graced his face as he decided to answer this demon's prayer. If he wanted an angel's help, then he would get it. With the snap of his fingers, time seemed to stop, at least down on the world below. The wolf had been frozen in time as he was walking away and now would be the perfect time to go and speak with him.

With another snap of his fingers, the angel had disappeared from his heavenly point and had appeared over the shrine. As he did, his wings had extended, two beautiful and fluffy wings to help him descend, while a shining light cradled him as he slowly fell. He was sure the light was probably to bright for the wolf, but he didn't care. Aphrodi loved making a literally blinding entrance like this.

Once his feet had hit the ground, the light slowly faded and the angel pulled his wings back, having them rest behind him. He smiled as he watched the wolf rub his eyes and blink, adjusting back from staring at that light. When he seemed to have regained his vision, he heard the demon gasp.

"It worked…"

"Of course it did, Shirou."

The wolf straightened up after hearing his name. "H-How did you know…?"

"Don't you remember your prayer? You began with stating your name," The angel answered in a calm and gentle tone. How cute, he was really caught off guard by seeing an angel, wasn't he? Thinking that, he took a step forward, wanting to see if that would spark a reaction from the demon.

And it did. Shirou had taken a step back, though he seemed to realized what he did and moved back in place. If Aphrodi had to guess, this nervous little demon wanted to stand his ground.

"You know you don't have to be afraid of me. You did call me after all to…what was it? Help save your brother from some bears?"

The wolf nodded, "Yes! Please!" And before Aphrodi could speak again, the wolf had gone down to his knees, then pressed his head to the ground. "P-Please! If you know the situation, then I would r-really appreciate your help! I just want to help my brother! I-If you want to exorcise me or burn me then please do it another time!"

The angel couldn't help but chuckle to that. Did he really think he would do that after dropping down from the heaves? Oh no, he was not barbaric at all!

"Don't worry, I don't intend to do any of that to you or your brother. You prayed for assistance not death." Oh, he wondered what this wolf really thought of him and other angels. At least this one didn't seem to hold any hatred towards angels, just a slight fear. "Look, little wolf, I'll help you. I came to because I accepted your prayer. I'm going to be your ally, your personal angel to assist you during your troubled time."

After speaking, he stepped forward once again, this time the wolf didn't step back. Rather, he was looking at the angel with such relief and hope in his eyes. His prayer had been answered, hadn't it? Oh, he really hadn't seen such a genuine look like this in a long, long time.

The angel stopped right before the demon who had just been staring at him as he approached. The blonde pushed a strand of hair back behind his ear before extending his hand out for the other to shake.

"Now, let me introduce myself. My name is Aphrodi. And as I stated before, I'm your angel that answered your prayer. Let's work together to save your brother, shall we?"

* * *

A/N: Ah I actually meant to update this like a couple of weeks ago but school got in the way ;v; And I got caught up doing oneshots to haha. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter to.


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